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From Party-Girl to Successful Entrepreneur and Mom in 12 Months Flat!

by: Melissa Biskner

Friday night, a pretty typical Friday night, I was with some of my girlfriends just being a normal twenty-something female. We were packed into my leased car on our way out to a club, dressed in the latest fashions not yet paid for, but financed on store credit cards. But hey, we got them on sale so that made it alright.

I was feeling good, and why shouldn’t I have, I was wearing the best makeup money, or should I say credit could buy, by one of the best designers from one of the best stores. As I was making a left hand turn and we were jamming to a Maroon 5 song, my cell phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number but figured it was another one of my friends inviting us to some hot party or cool new club.

“Is this Melissa Biskner?” the man on the other line asked.

“Yes, what can I do for you?”

Figuring it was a telemarketer, I was about to hang up when he identified himself as “Charlie” from American Express. He had informed me that they would be reducing my credit line and increasing my rate because my check for my last payment, or minimum payment, had bounced.

With one phone call my fun night out was ruined. I didn’t have cash to pay for my night of partying and without my credit card the night wouldn’t be the same.

What was the big deal anyway? Fees from the credit card company, more bank fees, just someone else getting more of my money that I always seemed to have less and less of. It seemed like everyone was getting my hard earned cash except me!! Since no one was depending on me what did it really matter if I was broke and living on the edge of a cliff financially???

Then someone came to visit me. Not one of my friends, not a family member. An animal-like creature…. Sort of…. it was the stork!

If there was ever a surprise in my life, this was definitely it. But what sometimes seems like the craziest day of your life sometimes becomes a turning point, a pivot that you look back on and realize it was the best thing that could have ever happened.

In hindsight there was no other route that could have shifted your life for the positive and put you on the path to be a huge success. I guess if someone would have told me that on that day I wouldn’t have believed them. I would have bet that they were wrong. Good thing I’m not a gambling woman because that’s a bet I would’ve lost. And wow what a change would occur over the next 12 months!

In less than a year I transformed myself from a party girl, spend and shop-a-holic to a successful business woman and Mom. Being a mom helps you succeed in business because it teaches you to focus on the details. If you take care of all the small things, all the tiniest details, the big picture begins to take shape and before you know it you’re making profits and people are calling you a success.

I started my business partially out of necessity but mostly, about 80%, by luck and pure chance. I was working as a hair stylist cutting the hair of a gentleman who ran an insurance company. It was a branch office of one of the top three largest insurance providers in the country. He was complaining about the high cost of all the toner and inkjet cartridges they were buying from one of the big chain stores.

Immediately it felt like I was struck with a bolt of pure luck. Earlier in the day, the owner of my salon had told me she was changing printers. The only problem was that she had some left over toners that she could no longer use. They were genuine cartridges still in the original boxes but couldn’t be returned back to the store. As luck would have it, it my client running the insurance company was using the same toners.

He told me he paid about $100 apiece for them. Within 24 hours of our conversation, I used the money I received in haircutting tips that day and bought the unused toners from my boss. I then in turn called up my client and sold them to him for $60 each, thus saving him a handsome $40 per cartridge and netting myself a small profit.

What started as a small idea has transformed into a full-time business. I now service several companies and now even keep a stock of cartridges so I no longer have to scramble to fill orders. My goal is to one day be able to pay for my son’s college education in cash. That’s still about 16 or 17 years in the future, but time flies and life can sometimes get crazy.

For more information on Melissa and her discount genuine toner and inkjet cartridges, you can visit her online at www.NewTonerSale.com

2 Responses to From Party-Girl to Successful Entrepreneur and Mom in 12 Months Flat!

1) Differentiation. What makes your service more unique/easier/cost effective than say, going on Ebay?

2) Your website is rudimentary and lacks visual appeal. It is a low cost sales tool, yes, but it needs to be effective if you want to reach out to sophisticated small businesses.

3) Your business model is based on: a) suppliers, other businesses/individuals that are switching printers and happen to have extra toners, and b) your ability to identify those businesses/individuals and purchase them at a low-cost. Either task seems arduous and time-consuming.